I’ve established the importance of reading in past articles, but how to maintain an interest in reading and shake up your reading habits, in a good way, is something else.

Let’s talk about book clubs. Lester Public Library has three, Manitowoc Public Library has them, and people throughout northeast Wisconsin run book clubs from their homes, offices or wherever folks gather.

Books clubs aren’t simply about reading. Here are some reasons that book clubs can change the way you read:

• Provide a regimen for reading, making time to read for the club may open the door to reading more. Rediscover your love of books and reading.

• It is an introduction to a wide variety of reading. Book clubs select authors and genres you may not be familiar with or even like. While going beyond your comfort zone, you might just discover you enjoy genres you’d never explored before.

• Meet people you probably would have never met. This broadens your social horizon and provides insight on how other people think. It is a good way to view ourselves, attitudes, and perspectives with new eyes.

• Reading can be a solitary endeavor but sometimes you just want to vent, share or express your feelings (good or bad) about a book. Book clubs give you a built in group of readers to share your experience with.

• How you interpret a book may be completely different from someone else’s perspective. Thorough discussion of a reading experience might catch some overlooked nuance of the book; it might even change your entire perspective on the book.

• An opportunity to be completely honest about what you read. There is a sense of community in book clubs; they offer a safe haven for open discussion.

• They are fun, a time to relax and enjoy reading and share that experience with others.

And these are only some of the benefits of joining the book club community. So if you think you might be interested in meeting new people, discovering new books and participating in fun and fascinating discussions, we’d like to invite you to check out one of our book clubs. Lester Public Library has two tried and true book clubs and one brand new one.

Strictly Fiction meets the first Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Webster Room. The group reads a wide variety of popular and genre fiction (mystery, western, science fiction and fantasy) selected by group leader, Chris Hamburg.

October features this year’s horror selection “Help for the Haunted,” by John Searles. Late one snowy night, Sylvie Mason hears her parents talking on the phone. A little later, they drive with Sylvie to a church, where — as Sylvie sleeps in the car — they are murdered in the church’s basement. The question of who killed Sylvie’s parents is only the first of many mysteries that unfold in John Searles’ Help for the Haunted, an expertly-wrought, coming-of-age story with a healthy dose of creepiness.

LPL Book Discussion meets the first Wednesday of each month at 4 p.m. in the Webster Room. Participants vote annually to decide which books to read and the result is usually an even split between popular fiction and non-fiction titles. October’s selection is “Out of Order” by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court. O’Connor offers a sense of how the high court has changed since its formation and how it works in relation to the legislature and the presidency.

And our brand new entry into the library book club scene:

Book Bites is combination book and cooking club. Participants will read food-related titles such as chef memoirs or fiction titles that feature food. Every other month or so members will review a cookbook, with participants choosing a recipe to make and share with the group. Chef/readers will talk about their cooking experience — ease in following the recipe and obtaining ingredients, adaptations they had to make, what they’d do differently next time — and everyone who wants to will be able to sample their creation.

The next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 in the Webster Room and we will be reading “Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table,” by Ruth Reichl. This is the story of a life determined, enhanced, and defined in equal measure by unforgettable people, the love of tales well told, and a passion for food.

If you are interested in joining any of our book clubs, stop by the front desk of the library to pick up a copy of next month’s selection. We look forward to seeing you there.

Jeff Dawson is director of Lester Public Library and may be reached at jefdaw@two-rivers.org.